Today is often called Good
Shepherd Sunday. Shepherds were at the very bottom of the status in the
ancient world. They were uneducated, illiterate, dirty, smelly, rough and
irreligious men. It is simply astonishing that the image of Christ as the
Good Shepherd would be the favorite depiction of Jesus in the early days of
the Church. The symbol has many different interpretations in the gospel
narratives – Jesus knows us as the Shepherd knows his cheap, Jesus searches
for the lost the way the shepherd searches for his lost sheep, Jesus wants
there to be one fold and one shepherd. All, however, emphasize the intimacy
between Jesus and his followers, an intimacy which continues even till this
day

Once there was a lieutenant who
was assigned to replace a veteran platoon leader in a combat situation. The
soldiers in the platoon worshipped the wounded veteran. Tough combat
veterans they were suspicious of the new officer who was a young man just
out of an ROTC college program. He surprised them by saying that he intended
to bring every soldier in the platoon home, I hope alive but even if you’re
killed, I’ll promise you that your body will go home to your families. He
wasn’t concerned about winning the respect of his troops. Rather he was
intent on taking care of them. He took no chances, and insisted that all the
patrols were cautious and careful. He made sure their weapons were in good
working order. He took the lead whenever they went into a potential combat
situation. He was a taciturn and reserved man, though he always asked what
the soldiers thought they should do in a tight spot. He went back for the
wounded and brought them back to safety. Somehow he managed to lead the
platoon through every dangerous situation. Many were wounded and evacuated,
but everyone survived. Then on their last mission he was badly wounded as he
carried a wounded kid back to the medics. Someone snapped a picture of him,
before the helicopter off the ground. The rest of the men carried a copy of
that photo with them for the rest of their lives. I wouldn’t be here if it
wasn’t for him, they would tell people. He knew us better than we knew
ourselves.